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On July 31, 2018, industrial technology solutions giant Fortive announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Accruent, a real estate and facilities management software provider, from private equity firm Genstar Capital. Fortive will pay $2 billion in cash and expects Accruent to generate revenues of $270 million in 2018. This will come from its suite of software products used by Accruent’s 10,000 customers. Upon completion of the acquisition, Accruent will become part of Fortive’s portfolio of Field Services solutions alongside other brands such as Fluke, Gordian (RSMeans), and Industrial Scientific. Verdantix finds this is the biggest deal to date in the $4.9 billion market for real estate and building management software, which we define further in our recent report…

What does the deal mean for the broader real estate and building management software market? The deal shows the market is consolidating at a rapid rate. The largest real estate software vendors MRI, RealPage and Yardi have been locked in an arms race of acquisitions to further bolster their scale. Meanwhile, IWMS vendor Planon has pursued targeted acquisitions to support international expansion. This latest deal also highlights the emerging push by software vendors to make greater linkages between software used during the construction and operational phases of buildings. Witness Elecosoft, a construction software provider, acquiring Shire Systems, a CMMS vendor, to offer the construction firms and property investors it engages with a maintenance management solution…

[Admin: This post is related to the 08.01.16 post about CAFM, CMMS, EAM, and IWMS competitors. To see other related posts, use the Verdantix tag or Accruent tag.]

The Verdantix benchmark of Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) has been released following a six-month research process. The benchmark assesses 14 vendors and their platforms on 71 criteria spanning real estate portfolio management through to maintenance management and 40 criteria relating to vendor success factors such as number of deployments and product strategy.

As part of the research, Verdantix interviewed a panel of 19 real estate and facilities management directors who select, implement and use software. What are the key takeaways for customers looking to invest in real estate and facilities management applications or to rationalize real estate IT with an IWMS platform?

Firstly, buyers looking to replace a roster of legacy and outdated systems with an IWMS have lots of choices. In our benchmark, seven vendors made it into the Leaders’ Quadrant: Accruent, ARCHIBUS, FM:Systems, IBM (TRIRIGA), MCS Solutions, Planon and Trimble (Manhattan), as they demonstrated an excellent breadth of functionality and strong market momentum…

[Admin: This post is related to the 08.01.16 post about the competitors of IBM TRIRIGA, and the 08.22.17 post by Verdantix about IWMS competition intensifying. To see other related posts, use the Verdantix tag.]

On 9 August 2017, real estate, facilities and asset management software provider Accruent announced it has acquired Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) vendor Lucernex. Genstar Capital-backed Accruent plans to use this latest acquisition to target emerging lease accounting opportunities, as the major accounting boards FASB and IASB require organizations to bring all leases on the balance sheet in 2019. This follows a furor of acquisition activity by Accruent, with its 2016 purchases of BIGCenter, Mainspring Healthcare Solutions, and Verisae…

Accruent now owns a roster of industry-specific and specialist software solutions for managing real estate and facilities. As it runs a product integration program through to 2018, it is positioned to provide a platform that is not only broad but also offers a lot of depth and industry-specific functionalities. With prominent IWMS vendors fighting to deliver the most complete software for real estate and facilities life-cycle management, all eyes should be on how well Accruent manages to integrate its various software solutions into a powerhouse IWMS platform…

[Admin: This post is related to the 08.01.16 post about CAFM, CMMS, EAM, and IWMS competitors. To see other related posts, use the Verdantix tag.]

Real estate directors and heads of estates are always looking out for what will drive the next wave of office improvements and cost efficiency. Space management is one of those hot topics at the moment. There has certainly been a flurry of deals between vendors offering space management solutions, all aiming to offer end-users more options on how to make better use of every square foot they occupy.

But behind all the deals there are two distinct questions being answered: (1) How do I reduce space-related inconveniences like occupants struggling to find spare meeting rooms or desks, and (2) How do I reduce the amount of space I use whilst allowing my business operations to run smoothly?

FM:Systems updated its space reservation app and floor plan viewer, and Condeco integrated its room booking module with Creston’s scheduling software and touch screens. ISS is piloting a self-service app for room booking. iOffice launched Hummingbird, which offers wayfinding and reservations through an app… IWMS vendors like Accruent are also tapping space utilization vendors such as Serraview for reseller partnerships…

These developments are hardly surprising. Predictive analytics enables users to detect if, and when, machinery is likely to breakdown. For example, predictive analytics enabled Duke Energy to identify a slight increase in the turbine vibration of a steam turbine – after maintenance was performed. The subsequent repairs resulted in $4.1 million of potential power generation loss being prevented. Facility managers at plants and factories are therefore likely to be looking for such solutions to keep things running.

But is predictive analytics a natural sell in the world of commercial real estate? There is certainly some evidence of this. Since 2009, UK-based retailer Sainsbury’s has used software provider Verisae’s (now part of Accruent) predictive maintenance solution to reduce product loss from refrigeration failures. Since 2016, engineering firm KONE has partnered with IBM Watson to embed intelligent analytics in its elevators and escalators to improve their performance and reduce instances of unplanned maintenance.

Nevertheless, such examples are not necessarily the norm. According to our 2016 Global Energy Leaders Survey, 46% of the 250 facility managers surveyed said improving the collection, analysis and reporting of energy data from their electrical assets is a very important priority. In contrast, more granular asset-level energy management was only considered very important by 22%. And in our 2015 Green Quadrant for Building Energy Management Software, only 18% of the customer panel we interviewed considered maintenance scheduling and predictive maintenance to be a very important asset management functionality.

The average facility manager is therefore more likely to be concerned with basic data capture than advanced solutions like predictive analytics…

[Admin: This post is related to the 07.13.17 post and 03.16.17 post about IBM Watson Analytics, and the 08.01.16 post about the competitors of IBM TRIRIGA. To see other related posts, use the Verdantix tag.]

In early 2016, the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Financial Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued new lease standards, which require companies to include lease obligations in their balance sheets. The new standards take affect 1 January 2019 and will impact all companies that have leases for real estate or equipment and file financial statements…

For many years, IWMS software providers have provided real estate, leasing, and portfolio capabilities, which include modules that integrate details of leases and contracts with existing financial and accounting systems to provide a central database for real estate financial planning and analysis and to create the correct entries for the accounting system. The new FASB/IASB accounting standards bring the spotlight on the role of software in managing leases.

A review of the deals in the public domain shows that providers such as Accruent, Lucernex, and Qube are already swooping in on opportunities to help companies mitigate risk by ensuring compliance to these new leasing standards. In the last few months, Lucernex has announced several new contracts with retailers such as Bouclair, DXL, Bashas’ Family of Stores and Suburban Propane. Accruent has been selected by CTIL, Tillys and Sephora in just the last few weeks. We are also witnessing other IWMS vendors improving their capabilities for accurate lease calculations in accordance with the new lease accounting standards. For example, in April, Planonsoftware received validation from a Big Four accounting firm that its leasing calculations engine was in accordance with the IASB/FASB requirements…

[Admin: This post is related to the 08.01.16 post about the competitors of IBM TRIRIGA. To see other related posts, use the FASB tag or IFRS tag.]